My Fred Whitton Setup: Bike, Pacing, Fuelling, and Final Thoughts

Here’s my full setup and strategy for the Fred Whitton Challenge: the bike I’ll be riding, how I plan to pace it, what I’m fuelling with, and my thoughts before tackling the UK’s toughest sportive.

Watch related videos from the route below 👇

🚴‍♂️ Cycle the Nation: Descents of the Fred Whitton

🎬 Climbed & Rated – Hardknott Pass

🎬 Climbed & Rated Wrynose Pass (Both Sides)

🎬 Climbed & Rated – Whinlatter Pass & Newlands Hause

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This is the bike I’m going to be using with the Fred next week. It’s got me up the likes of the Black Nabar, great dumbfell and also most of the climbs which are during the Fred Witten likes a hard not pass and Rhino’s pass. So yeah, feel like this is the correct bike to take especially as this has been my road bike for the past six years. So there’s a lot of memories and sentiment towards this bike. So, it felt like it was the right bike to take during my first ever ride with the Fred Witten and my first ever ride where I’m going to be going over 10,000 ft in one single ride. Everyone talks about the climbs of the Fred Witten, but me personally, it’s the descents which terrify me. So, with that in mind, disc brakes were an absolute must. Not that I’ve ever used rim brakes before, but I just like the idea that these are the most powerful brakes. use them. Feel safer on the climbs. Especially I’ve been down Honest Pass. Honest pass is ridiculous. It’s going to be probably the hardest descent during the Fred Whitten. But I’m glad I’ve done it before. So like I’ve experienced it. I know it’s very bendy. It’s very bumpy. It’s extremely steep at the start. Steep at the top. So knowing that I know where and how to ride it. If you haven’t ridden down any of these descents before, I highly recommend you watch Cycle the Nation. He’s done a video where he shows all the descents, all the pinch points. I’ve watched it again myself and it was very, very helpful. I’ll put a link in the description for that video just to help you all out. Also, thinking about the descents, I’ve also recently just put on some new tires. So, I’ve got some 28C tires, little bit bigger than what most people go with with 25s. But just that little bit of extra size, a bit more confidence again on the descents. Now to the gearing. Now the gearing on this bike is extremely easy. It makes going up climbs much more manageable, especially when you consider like I may not be the biggest person compared to the general public, but when you compare to the mountain goats going up some of these climbs, I’m a lot bigger and heavier than them about 90 kg. So gearing wise at the back here we’ve got a 1142 cassette which is an absolute godsend. Then at the front here I’ve got a Shimano GRX has a 46 big ring and a 30 small ring. So having the smallest gear of a 3042 going up like 30% climbs instead of having to get out the saddle and grind the gears at like 30 40 RPM. I can sit down, helps with traction, and I can pedal up with a cadence of somewhere for like hard not pass when it’s like 33%, I’ll have a cadence of somewhere between 55 and 65. It just makes things a lot more manageable, I find. And I find when you have your cadence really low, it takes a lot more out your legs, whereas having the cadence a bit higher, it makes climbs a lot more repeatable. And then when you consider the Fred Witten with how many climbs there are, I personally think it’s a no-brainer. More people should have gearing like this. Not the mountain goats. They can have their fast gearing and fly up the climbs. But for us mere mortals, I think this is the perfect setup. My taping strategy for the Fred. So the weekend, the bank holiday weekend just gone by. Didn’t do any riding. Just let the legs fully recover. the week leading up to the Fred, I still got to go to and from work. So, I’ve got to be riding my bike, especially as I don’t drive. So, instead of where I would normally have a few efforts up and down a few hills, going to and from work, I’m just going to be going zone one, zone two, keep the legs turning over, burning, no matches, ready for Saturday when we travel up north to get to the Lake District, day before the Fred. No riding on the Saturday, so I’m fully recovered. It’s a basic just gentle riding for about an hour to and from work each way. And that will keep the legs not burning too many matches ready for the Fred. So I do not want to be doing the Fred on tired legs. That would not be a clever idea at all. Right. So pacing and fueling. So I’m hoping to not have to stop at the first feed station. If I have to, that’s fine. Uh to try and help with that, I’ve got five flat jacks I have in my back pocket, which each of them have 450 calories. So, lots of calories there. Obviously, have a big breakfast beforehand as well. Bottle wise, going for big bottles. We’ve got two one liter bottles. I hear some people saying, “Oh, you want one bottle, save as much weight as possible.” But then equally, I don’t want to bonk next week. Looking at the weather forecast, it looks like it’s going to be 17°, which isn’t crazy hot, but when you’re going up 30 odd% climbs, it’s more than warm enough and you’re going to be burning a lot of calories and sweating a lot. So, you need to get everything back in. I do not want to be bonking at all, especially when you got hard not pass at 97 miles. You want that with legs which are functioning well fueled, well hydrated, and ready to tackle that absolute mammoth task. From a time point of view, uh, with this being my first ever ride with over 10,000 feet of climbing, I’m not aiming for a fast time at all. My job is just to finish. The only slight time constraint I’ve got, I got to be back on the train back to Birmingham for 8:15 p.m. So, I’ve got loads of loads of time. But to make sure that that’s not an issue, I’m going to be purposely starting at the 6:00 a.m. start, give myself as much time as possible, so I’m not racing the trains at all. And also hopefully it gives me enough time at the end of the ride to chill for a little bit, enjoy the atmosphere at the end of the event before having to get the train back home to Birmingham ready for work the next morning. And like I’ve already mentioned the weather. It looks like the weather gods have been kind to us. 6 days out until the event. It’s forecasted to be around a high of 17°. Uh the wind less than 5 mph. A little bit of cloud, but mainly the sun will be out. You couldn’t plan any more perfect conditions. Even the buildup to the Fred, it’s dry. So the roads won’t be wet at all. Absolute godsend. Especially on those descents. Do not want to be going down Honest Pass on wet roads. That’s the idea of that is just terrifying. Just no. Absolute no. No. Right. So looking at the first 40 miles compared to the rest of the route, it looks a lot easier. You’ve got Kirkstone Pass and Park Brow. The climbs, they’re long and steady. They’re not like crazy 30% gradients yet. My aim here is to not burn too many matches. Just steadily get into the ride. Don’t run off with people who are trying to go as fast as possible. Just find a group who’s like taking it easy and like we’ll slowly plot along, saving energy, ready for the madness at the end of the ride, cuz that’s when you’re going to need all that energy. The middle 40 mi is tough. You got the start of four major climbs here. You’ve got Honister Pass, which is a 25% gradient climb. Haven’t done this side of Honer Pass, but I’ve been told it’s really steep at the bottom and almost as hard as the other side, which I have done. So that’s going to be challenging. Then go down that crazy descent which I’ve mentioned about five times already. Then we’ll go towards Butmir along one of the most beautiful roads there are in the UK. And then it’ll be on to Newand’s House. Another 25% climb. Steady most time around 10% with the odd ramp up to 20% but it leaves the steepest part until right at the end where it’s 25%. Get yourself over that and then you’ve got a glorious descent down towards the next climb which is Wind Latter Pass going through the forest. Steady climb. It does reach up to 15%. So steep, but not as steep as the last two you’ve just been up, but I’m not normally a fan of forest climbs, but this I do like this climb. You You will enjoy yourself through here. The views in the forest are really good out through the trees, seeing some of the lakes. It’s a stunning climb. Do enjoy this one. Then we head west to a climb I haven’t done before, Cold Fell. Looking at the graph, it looks like it’s a steady climb most of the way. It does ramp up to 20%, but it’s got an average of 4%. So, it’s not crazy. I have heard before that this climb is more often than not accompanied by a block headwind, which will make 4% feel a lot harder. So, yeah, that’s not great. So, during this section, there’s going to be periods where you’re going to be going deep into the red, working really hard. Having my gearing will make that manageable. And then when we’re on the descents, obviously take it as easy as possible. The flats in between. I’ll be riding with a mate Chris and he’ll we’ll probably just take in turns on the front saving energy uh and drafting each other. And if we find some other cyclists who are going at our pace, we’ll join in with them, help take turns on the front, saving energy, ready for the last 30, 35 miles, which looks absolute madness. Whose idea is it to put whose idea is it to put hard not pass right at the end? 97 miles in. I have done hard not pass before, so I know mentally I can get up it, but I did that after about 25 miles. not 97 mi and god knows how many feet of climbing. So, it’s going to be a very different experience. But from a pacing strategy point of view, Hard Not Pass is divided into three sections. Steep, easy, and steep again. So, the two steep sections straight into the red. Just survival riding. Just get up it as best as you possibly can. But the middle section, it’s easy in comparison to the other two. I think it averages like 6 7%. Nothing too crazy crazy. Could go a lot faster, but during that period I will be going as slow as possible. Let the lactic acid get out of my legs ready for the 33% hair pins at the end which everyone talks about and everyone is worried about. It’s also where the photographer is. Don’t give him the chance to take a photo of you falling off your bike. Save your energy to give yourself the best chance of getting up that climb on two wheels. no problems. But also, you’ve got to save a little bit of energy for the bit after the hairpins because that’s really steep as well. And it just drags and drags and drags and drags and drags. Ramping up the odd time to about 20 25% but hovering mainly around 15% to the summit. It’s just it’s really really physically obviously it’s a challenge, but mentally it’s it just drags it out of you and it’s really really difficult. But if you’re prepared mentally, it’s like you’re nearly at the top. You got to descent afterwards and a flat section before Rhino’s pass to recover recover recharge the batteries. Just keep reminding yourself of that and try and look around cuz it is stunning around there. Try and distract yourself with how beautiful it is around in Hard Not Pass. Then we’re going to be going up the easier side of Rhino’s Pass. But when you say it’s easier and it has a max gradient of 26%, it just sounds stupid. You’ll be 100 miles deep in now. But if you got over Hard Not Pass, you’ll get over Rhino’s Pass. Just take your time. You’ll get over it. But then the other side, Rhino’s Pass, going down, it’s one of the fastest descents in the country. You really got to pay attention here. Two years ago, I was going down this descent for the first ever time and I got really nervous. I was on the brakes that much that my front brake where the pads where the brake thing and the brake pad comes together. It’s like glued together. It overheated that much that it actually melted, flew out of the caliper at the front, hit me in the leg. So then I was going down that descent with just the rear brake. Luckily, no harm done, but that was terrifying going down that climb with just that brake. Uh I have been down it since again and had no problems. But yeah, that was a a hairy scary moment. Then it’s the final climb Ble Tarn and it’s like I said, if you can get up Rhino’s Pass and Hard Not Pass, you’ll have no problems here. Then it’s the final descent into Grassmre and you’re done. Time to refuel and enjoy the atmosphere after the ride. So yeah, that is my bike, my strategy, my pacing, my fueling all ready for the Fred Witten. What are your plans for the Fred Witten? And also, have you got any advice for anyone who is riding it for the first time to help them have a better experience on on the Sport? If you’ve got any questions to help with the Fred Witten, ask in the comments. Either I’ll try and help out or other people who are watching the video may be able to help out. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you up in the Lake District on two wheels.